Poll: How we view guns, immigration, marriage

SACRAMENTO  A new poll on some of the most divisive issues of the day shows that a majority of Californians favor more gun control, support same-sex marriage and believe unauthorized immigrants should be allowed to keep working in the U.S. while applying for legal status.

The survey conducted by the nonprofit Public Policy Institute of California also found broad support for Gov. Jerry Brown’s approach to balancing the state budget and President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul.

“We are definitely more Democratic than the nation as a whole on issues like immigration, gun control, and health care so we are going to line up more on that side,” said Mark Baldassare, PPIC president.

For example, the poll shows a large majority of Californians standing up for immigrant rights, whether they are here legally or not.

“On one hand you can say it demonstrates we’re a blue state, but it also demonstrates that Republicans in California have a different perspective than what has come from Republican leadership in Washington in the past,” Baldassare said.

The survey of 1,704 California adults, including 1,386 registered voters and 1,116 likely voters, was taken from Jan. 15 through Jan. 22. Among the adults questioned, 44 percent are Democrats, 29 percent Republicans and 22 percent independents. Thirty-four percent of those surveyed identified themselves as Latino or Hispanic.

The poll had a margin of error of between 3.5 percent and 6.5 percent depending on the subgroup polled.

Following is a look at some of the key issues and results:

Gun control

Background: California already has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation. But the shooting massacres in Colorado and Connecticut have sparked new efforts to tighten both state and federal regulations, from bans on certain weapons to who can legally own guns. The PPIC poll found:

• 65 percent of Californians say government does not do enough when it comes to regulating guns, up from 53 percent last March.

• 65 percent support a national ban on assault weapons. (California already has restrictions.) Of those in support, 47 percent said they own a gun, rifle or pistol.

• 61 percent say they worry “a great deal” or “somewhat” about a mass shooting in their community. Of those expressing concern, 69 percent already own a gun, 79 percent are Latino and 74 percent have children at home.

Immigration

Background: Two proposals were unveiled this week to overhaul federal immigration policy, from a path to citizenship to tighter border security. The blueprints — advanced by a bipartisan group of U.S. senators and separately by President Obama — are in response to a growing post-election realization that common ground must be found given the economic and societal impacts related to immigration controls. The PPIC poll, taken before the plans were released, found:

• 76 percent say unauthorized immigrants who have lived and worked in the U.S. for more than two years should be allowed to stay on the job and apply for legal status.

• 21 percent said those unauthorized immigrants should be deported. Of those, 36 percent are Republicans, 13 percent are Democrats, 33 percent are white and 28 percent are 55 or older.